The Book of Judges – Gideon – Christianity

The Deborah episode in the Book of Judges left us with hope. Certainly now after God’s direct intervention, Israel will remain faithful. But no; for the fourth time the cycle repeats. “The children of Israel did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight.” Again a threat emerges. Again the people cry out. Again God responds. Again the oppression lifts. Again rest comes to the land. But there are differences.

This time the threat comes from the Midianites and the peoples east of Jordan. They appear as unnumerable hordes riding on camels pillaging the land and consuming every crop about to be harvested. Normally, grain stalks are pounded and thrown into the air so wind can blow away the chaff. The children of Israel have to be careful. They are forced to hide in caves or other enclosed areas to avoid detection.

Yahweh’s patience is running thin. For the first time in the book of Judges, he sends a prophet.

Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, “I brought you up from Egypt, and brought you out of the house of bondage. I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out from before you, and gave you their land. I said to you, ‘I am Yahweh your God. You shall not fear the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell.’ But you have not listened to my voice (Jdg 6:8–10).”

Israel is thoroughly Canaanized. Yahweh has to start from scratch. As with Moses before the Exodus, so was it with Gidion before the fourth deliverance. Moses was hiding from Pharaoh; Gideon was hiding from the Midianites. Yahweh got Moses’s attention with a burning bush; the angel of the Lord appears to Gideon under an oak. He speaks:

Yahweh is with you, you mighty man of valor (Jdg 6:12)!

An odd statement indeed! Gideon was hiding in a sheltered wine press area. A “mighty man of valor?” Really? God saw something in Gideon that others and even Gideon himself wouldn’t.

The first thing Gideon does is complain:

Oh, my lord, if Yahweh is with us, why then has all this happened to us? Where are all his wondrous works which our fathers told us of, saying, “Didn’t Yahweh bring us up from Egypt?” But now Yahweh has cast us off, and delivered us into the hand of Midian (Jdg 6:13).

No reflection by Gideon. No answer from God. As with Moses though, Yahweh issues a command. Moses was to deliver the children of Israel from Egypt; Gideon is to deliver them from Midian.

Go with might, and save Israel from the hand of Midian. Haven’t I sent you (Jdg 6:14)?

Both Moses and Gideon resisted. Moses stuttered. Gideon claimed he was the weakest person of the weakest tribe. We later find out that Gideon wasn’t quite truthful. He had ten servants, and his Father held a prominent position in the city’s Baal worship cult. This is the first inkling of Gideon’s character. Nevertheless, Yahweh was patient. He responds:

Surely I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man (Jdg 6:16).

Both Moses and Gideon get a supernatural sign. Moses’s staff turned into a snake; Gideon saw Yahweh miraculously consume the offering of meat and unleavened cakes (Jdg 6:21). Recognizing that he like Moses, interacted with God face-to-face, Gideon feared. God directly speaks:

Peace be to you! Don’t be afraid. You shall not die (Jdg 6:23).

The interaction continues. Yahweh commands:

Take your father’s bull, even the second bull seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is by it.

Then build an altar to Yahweh your God on the top of this stronghold, in an orderly way, and take the second bull, and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down (Jdg 6:25–26).

Gideon faces a dilemma. If he obeys, there will be consequences from his clan. If he does not, Yahweh will depart. He will not tolerate foreign gods in his presence. So, Gideon takes his ten servants in the dark of night and complies (Jdg 6:27).

In the morning the clan discovers what happened, and they call for Gideon’s death. Will the clan leader, Joash support Gideon his son? He declares:

Will you contend for Baal? . . . Let him [Baal] contend for himself, for someone [Gideon] has broken down his altar (Jdg 6:31).

Joash gives Gideon a second name Jerub-Baal (Jdg 6:32) on that day meaning: Let Baal Contend. We witness this name being used later. Baal again replaces Yahweh among the Israelites.

But for now, everything is in place. God’s spirit comes upon Gideon (Jdg 6:34), as a gift to empower him to accomplish feats that would otherwise be impossible. Gideon sounds an alarm, and leaders from his clan (the Abiezrites) respond. It’s a surprise. They were the ones who just wanted to kill him. Other tribes also respond. (Manasseh, Naphtali, Zebulun, and Asher). A great meeting is imminent (Jdg 6:34–35).

Fear creeps in. “What if Yahweh changes his mind?” “Is he setting up a trap for me?” Gideon tests God with his fleece (Jdg 6:36–40). Should he still go ahead and fight the Midianites? Normally, priests inquire yes/no questions like this using the Umin and Thummim. Where are these priests? As in the rest of the Book of Judges, they are nowhere.

Gideon’s fleece is often seen by Christians as a model. Not so. Gideon is well aware of his mission. His interaction with God and the fleece shows a lack of faith. Recall Jesus’s words:

An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign (Matt 16:4).

Nevertheless, God gives the signs that encourage Gideon and 32,000 troops take action. They camp just to the north of the Midianites on the hillside. Surprisingly, God speaks again:

The people who are with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel brag against me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me (Jdg 7:2).’

He inexplicably orders Gideon to reduce his troops from 32,000 down to 300 (Jdg 7:4–8). Seeing the overwhelming size of the enemy preparing for another raid, Gideon’s faith falters again. “Is Yahweh powerful enough?” “Is he leading me to destruction?” So, God sends him another sign. Like when God had Aaron accompany Moses, God had Gideon’s servant Purah join him (Jdg 7:10–11). They secretly go down to observe the Midianite camp. While there, they overheard a conversation about a bizarre dream(Jdg 7:13–14):

There was a man telling a dream to his fellow:
Behold, I dreamed a dream; and behold, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian, and came to the tent, and struck it so that it fell, and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat.
His fellow answered,
This is nothing other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel. God has delivered Midian into his hand, with all the army (Jdg 7:13–14).”

This emboldens Gideon, He knows he will defeat 120,000 with 300.

Interesting! Yahweh doesn’t say how. Gideon uses his own resourcefulness. He attacks at the darkest hour of night with a battle cry: For the Lord and Gideon (Jdg 7:18).

Ironic! They don’t have weapons. All they have are 300 men. Trumpet blasts and smoldering torches burst into flames as coverings of pots are smashed? The Midianite army is thrown into disarray. This has no naturalistic explanation. Just like the fall of Jericho, Yahweh is responsible.

From now on, Gideon relies on his own initiative. He calls for reinforcements from those who previously returned to their tents. The enemy forces are routed as they attempt to flee eastward back across the Jordan.

Up to this point, God’s interaction with Gideon was direct and personal. No more. Gideon behaves like many of us who have unique talents, but don’t acknowledge the source. He proceeds to carry out a personal vendetta of slaughter against the Midianite kings, and also against Israelite towns that were hesitant to give him and his 300 men support. By this, he lives up to the translation of his name, “The hacker.” For whatever reason, God chooses not to intervene. He remains silent for the rest of Gideon’s career.

After the war, the children of Israel ask:

Rule over us, both you, and your son, and your son’s son also; for you have saved us out of the hand of Midian (Jdg 8:22).

To his credit, Gideon refuses. But does he? One would think he would say: “I didn’t save you, Yahweh did.” By his silence, he takes credit for his victory. Like Aaron during the golden calf incident, he requests lots of gold to make an ephod (a garment laid over an idol).

Gideon’s herem birthed 70 sons. He retained the royal emblems he took from the Midian kings that he killed. In effect, Gidion was the first Israel king. He ruled from his hometown of Ophrah. A new form of idolatry was established.

Application

Gideon began weak and afraid. A direct encounter with God changed the course of his life. An intimate back-and-forth personal relationship ensued, and he was filled with the Spirit. Then, after a great success, things changed again. He continued to give God lip service, but he misused the gift of leadership that God entrusted to him. One could argue that he did more long-term harm to Israel than good. His legacy can be summarized by Jdg 8:33–34.

As soon as Gideon was dead the children of Israel turned again, and played the prostitute following the Baals, and made Baal Berith their god. The children of Israel didn’t remember Yahweh their God, who had delivered them out of the hand of all their enemies on every side.

Paul writes:

For who makes you different? And what do you have that you didn’t receive? But if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it (1 Cor 4:7)?

Many start with talent and potential. But what does it profit when one fails in the end?

When the righteous turns from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, he will even die therein (Ezek 33:16).

It is easy to take our position in Christ for granted. Let’s not.

Thanks for listening.

References

Barry G. Webb, The Book of Judges: New International Commentary on the Old Testament, Eerdmans (2012), 219–268, 294-297.
Daniel I. Block, The New American Commentary: Judges, Ruth, B & H Publishing (1999), 247–307.
John H. Walton, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary& Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, Zondervan (2009), 150–169.

Dan Harvey, author of Wrestling with Faith and Experiencing the Apocalypse, secondlooknow.com

Anonymous

December 10, 2025 at 9:05 pm

Wow!
A strong lesson is here, for us.
Lets not take our position in Christ for granted!

December 10, 2025 at 9:07 pm

Wow, a powerful message!
WE must be careful not to take Gods message for granted!

December 11, 2025 at 12:05 am

How sad. Gideon boasted, men went silent. A warning to christian leaders today, many who seem to follow this model.

The Book of Judges – Gideon

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